Husks. At least a dozen, piled haphazardly just beside the door. That’s what Corabelle saw first. The dried out bodies of the dead, shed like snakeskin.

  The Faedemons that emerged from them were the next thing she saw. They lay on stark wooden platforms, skin bare, eyes closed. They weren’t fully formed yet, their skin thin and semi translucent, dim blue light emanating from them. Their bodies didn’t yet fully encase their potent Sparks.

  She became vaguely aware of the finger digging into her arm as the sight before her sunk in.

  “Cora,” Sterling hissed, “We have to go right now.”

  “Don't worry. They won’t wake up,” her voice came out strangely strong, far stronger than she felt.

  The grip loosened ever so slightly, “We can’t risk it. We need to go.”

  “They can’t wake up,” She insisted, taking a tentative step into the room. “They--”

  Her words were ripped away as her eyes drifted to the far recess of the room

  In the far back of the room, tucked neatly into an alcove was a well illuminated glass cylinder. The thick glass was immaculate, far too perfect to have been made by hand, and consisted of two halves of the cylinder brought together and sealed by dull bronze.

  The top and bottom of the cylinder were also sealed by bronze casing. The top had a small vent attached to a tube leading the figure inside, providing air to a stiff metal mask covering the lower half of their face.

  From the bottom of the tank were more tubes. These were not connected to a vent, instead they disappeared under the tank to an unknown connection. The tops of the tube slithered upward and into the figure from the orifice that had once been where their left arm had been attached.

  Cracks webbed across the glass as her claws made contact, lodging themselves into the cylinder.

  Viscous fluid spurted as she ripped them, free to strike a second time, but the pressure of the fluid spread the crack, the glass giving way in a deafening crash.

  The torrent of fluid soaked Corabelle as it spilled across the room. Glass shredded her face as it hit, but she wasn’t paying attention. Her focus was on one thing only.

  The weight of him knocked her to the floor as she caught him, claws retracted as she gripped him tight against her chest.

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  Tears poured down her face as his eyes flickered open briefly before settling closed. She felt his heartbeat against her palm, strong as she ripped the mask from his face, allowing him to get a real breath of air.

  A year…

  She was sure they’d killed him.

  But he was here, hidden underground, entombed in glass. Zaramir was here.

  -----

  As if her luck couldn’t get any worse, Everyn saw what the Demon saw a moment too late to stop her.

  The other Faedemon that had invaded her House was here, safely unconscious behind glass, but Cora wasn’t going to let him stay there.

  Monstrous claws spring from her fingertips, shattering the glass.

  The onslaught of liquid from the tank knocked one of the Faedemon whelps from its table, the room filling with horrific smell of death as it melted into a puddle of goo, barely diluted by the fluid that interrupted its growth.

  Though Everyn didn’t have time to revel in the death of that demon, as she pulled her crossbow from her back.

  She was right. She knew she was right. This demon was waiting for a good opportunity. She just wanted help.

  As she steadied her aim, her arm was suddenly yanked, her crossbow misfiring. Instead of piercing the Demon through the heart, it instead ripped through her upper arm. The wound sealed over nearly immediately.

  She glared at Sterling, ready to scream to him, as she gripped her wrist, preventing her from lining up another shot, but he shot her a look she’d never seen before freezing her in place.

  Sterling had a way of shutting down arguments but this was different. This was… desperation.

  The Demon, however, hardly seemed to notice the chaos around her. Instead she was intently tending to her comrade.

  He lay unconscious sprawled awkwardly across her legs, as she pulled the metal mask from his face. It had left angry red lines that dripped blood down his face before they slowly closed.

  “Cora?” Sterling questioned delicately.

  She ignored him or maybe she didn’t hear him as her focus turned to the bundle of tubes snaking into his body. Some had ripped free in the fall, splattering her with blood and other multi-color liquids, the others lay precariously from the open hole

  Everyn finally saw what Sterling had. Cora‘s shoulders shook violently, as tears fell from her face. This girl wasn’t rallying back up.

  She lowered her crossbow, pulling arm arm gently free of Sterling’s grasp.

  “Cora?” Sterling questioned again. “Who is he?”

  Everyn answered for her as Corabelle’s focus didn’t waver, “They were together at my House.”

  Her final grasp on hatred for this Demon grew ever thinner as she watched Cora pull the remaining tubes gently from his shoulder with shaking hands, an uncomfortable feeling of pity replacing it.

  Gods.

  Sterling took a few careful steps forward, “He’s your friend, isn’t he? The one who…saved your life.”

  Cora finally acknowledged him with a tense nod as the open wound sealed over and the unconscious Faedemon was finally free of everything that connected him to that tube.

  Sterling turned to face Everyn, his jaw set, “Go get the others. We need to talk.”